ACT’s Executive Director Deb Harford is quoted in a new article in The Tyee about climate change effects in the community of Crescent Beach, BC.

The article focuses on what the predicted effects of climate change will be for communities like Crescent Beach in BC’s Lower Mainland area.

“The impacts of sea level rise are uneven and will vary by geographical area. Where it will hit hardest in B.C., according to a 2013 summary of research, are the coastal floodplains of the Fraser River Delta. There, winter storm surges consisting of big waves and high winds, and seasonal freakishly-high “king tides,” will increasingly work in concert with sea level rise to threaten coastal communities like Crescent Beach.”

The article also discusses various adaptation options for these communities. As Deb Harford points out, here in BC we haven’t quite started to feel the urgency yet about needing to take action on adaptation:

“Deborah Harford, executive director of Simon Fraser University’s Adaptation to Climate Change Team, notes that Copenhagen became a leader in urban flood control after catastrophe spurred action. Harford says such events are dubbed “decision-making rains” for their power to shift attitudes about change. It might take the same here. “I don’t think we’ve had enough impact here to really feel an urgency on it yet.”

What is ACT?

The Adaptation to Climate Change Team (ACT) brings leading experts from around the world together with industry, community, and government decision-makers to explore the risks posed by top-of-mind climate change issues and to identify opportunities for sustainable adaptation.